A-HA! I have vanquished The Stickiness Monster!

Tip #1: Say "the heck with it" and mix the whole mess up with your hands. You'll lose about 1/4 of the mix because it won't come off your hands (or out from under your fingernails) without soap and water and thus, it all ends up down the drain, but you also won't end up with brown blobs on the ceiling. Or the cat.

Tip #2: TRIPLE the recipe so you don't have to deal with The Stickiness Monster very often -- 24 bars will last you MUCH longer than 8.

Tip #3: Use two plastic spatula thingies as a kind of culinary fork-lift. Haul the entire massive glob out of the bowl all at once and deposit into the heavily-Pam'd square 9x9 pan. Again, you may lose up to 1/4 of the mix with this technique, but since you've TRIPLED the recipe, you're still ahead of the game.

Tip #4: Spray your hands ULTRA-LIBERALLY with Pam. Figuring out how to spray one hand with Pam when the other hand is already covered in Pam is your own darn problem. I used my chin.

Tip #5: Hold your breath, close your eyes, and squish the entire glob down into the pan as fast as you can before the anti-stick factor of the Pam is overcome by The Stickiness Monster.

Viola! Very yummy, homemade protein bars!

Oh Kate -- I'm laughing until I'm crying!

Really, I'm honored that you liked them well enough to try again. Do you have one of those wonderful Kitchen Aid stand mixers? Heavy duty mothers that were once used to use to mix up homemade cinnamon rolls but have been sitting neglected since you started on the weight loss quest? (well, that's what I used to do with mine and will do once again on T-giving morning -- arghhh!) Anyway, all you need is one of those babies and a dough hook and you'll be whipping out protein bars with nary a blob.

--OR--

Let's make it easy on you and I'll just mail you a batch every week, OK?

Hi Kate,

Great post!!! If that's you in the picture in your avatar you look good enough to be a fashion model!

Enjoy the protein bars
rabbit

Hi Meg and Rabbit

In all seriousness, Meg, these bars are DELICIOUS!!! I absolutely love them!! Thanks so much for the recipe! I don't have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, but it may be worth buying one now considering how much I love these protein bars . I added almonds and walnuts to the second batch, which should be very yummy!

I'm planning to trying Mel's protein bars this weekend, too!

Rabbit, thanks for the compliment . You're very sweet!

Buy the mixer! I use mine all the time even though I no longer make cinnamon buns

Same goes for a good food processor. I think I use mine more now for making oatmeal flour and slicing, shredding vegies, making humus, etc, than I did in the bad old days of cookies and cakes.

I haven't made those bars in ages- if I were you, I'd really skip them and make the protein muffins

Did kitty enjoy the lickings?

Mel

Kate, search your local classifieds, or Craig's List, or any source of used stuff. I got my kitchenaid for $75 used! I love it.

Mel, I have the receipe for your protein bars -- what do I need to do differently to make them into muffins? And the kitty LOVED the Pam...very yummy for him . I bet it's good for hairballs, too (like butter).

Pat, that's a GREAT idea about Craig's list or the classifieds...I'm going to pick up a paper on the way to the gym tonight. Thanks . BTW, have you gotten any more snow yet?? I'm DYING for snow so I can get out on my new skis!

This is a cross post from the NUTRITION forum:

Here are some protein muffin recipes:

Banana Nut Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup dry old-fashioned oatmeal, ground to flour in a blender or food processor
4 scoops vanilla protein powder (I use HDT Problend 55 Alpine Vanilla or Milk Chocolate: 27 g. protein and 135 calories per scoop)
2 t Baking powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 T cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
************************
2 med ripe bananas
1 egg
4 egg whites
1/2 cup natural applesauce
1 t vanilla
1/3 c splenda
1/4 c chopped walnuts

Procedure

Mix dry ingredients and wet separately. Add wet to dry stuff, mix up. spoon into muffin tin that has been sprayed with Pam.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes...or less, I like them browned on top.
I wrap each and freeze in a freezer bag.
Make 12 sm. muffins or 6 large ones. One of the large ones counts as a meal for me (I eat 5 meals a day).
Nutritional Information for the whole batch:
Fat: 35g
Calories: 1446
Protein: 147g

Carrot Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup dry old-fashioned oatmeal, ground to flour in a blender or food processor
4 scoops vanilla protein powder (I use HDT Problend 55 Alpine Vanilla:27 g. protein and 135 calories per scoop)
2 teaspoons Baking powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 T cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
************************
1 cup grated carrot
1 egg
4 egg whites
2/3 cup natural applesauce
1 t vanilla
1/3 c Splenda
1/4 c chopped walnuts

Procedure

Mix dry ingredients and wet separately. Add wet to dry stuff, mix up. spoon into muffin tin that has been sprayed with Pam.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes...or less, I like them browned on top.
I wrap each and freeze in a freezer bag.
Make 12 sm. Muffins or 6 oversized
Nutritional Information:
For the whole batch: Per 1 muffin (12 total):
Fat: 53g Fat: 4.5 g
Calories: 1662 Calories: 138
Protein: 174g Protein: 14.5 g
Carbohydrates: 121 Carbohydrates: 10.1


Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup dry old-fashioned oatmeal, ground to flour in a blender or food processor
4 scoops vanilla protein powder (I use HDT Problend 55 Alpine Vanilla:27 g. protein and 135 calories per scoop)
2 teaspoons Baking powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 T cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2 tbps unsweetened cocoa powder if you want pumpkin-chocolate muffins
************************
1 cup pureed pumpkin (NOT pie filling!)
1 egg
4 egg whites
1/2 cup natural applesauce
1 t vanilla
1/3 c Splenda
1/4 c chopped walnuts

Procedure

Mix dry ingredients and wet separately. Add wet to dry stuff, mix up. spoon into muffin tin that has been sprayed with Pam.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes...or less, I like them browned on top.
I wrap each and freeze in a freezer bag.
Make 12 sm. Muffins or 6 oversized


These freeze easily and are a super portable meal! I have one almost every day for my 4 pm meal because it's something that I can eat while I'm working.


They are also good as a "bring along" for yourself when you know everyone else is going to be eating cookies or danish during a meeting when you should be eating a healthy meal or snack.


Mel

hi, guys can I find the Protein bar recipe somewhere it sounds great
Lynda

Mel, thanks for the muffin recipes!!! I used to make muffins ALL the time, so I suspect I'll make less of a mess with these .

Lynda, I'll go find the thread with Meg's protein bar recipe...be right back...

Lynda,
The recipe for Meg's Protein Bars is the 6th post on the page:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68560

BUY SOME PAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Speaking of muffins, here's a recipe for 80 calorie healthy muffins that I came up with yesterday -- and they're not sticky, Kate! I don't have a name for them yet ... how about

Ridiculously Healthy 80 Calorie Muffins?

I cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup Splenda

1 1/2 cups Fiber One cereal
1/2 cup boiling water

1/4 cup Eggbeaters or egg whites
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup nonfat or lowfat buttermilk
1/2 cup raisins

Blend dry ingredients together in a bowl (flour, salt, Splenda, and baking soda). Soak Fiber One in hot water until all the water is absorbed. Mix together wet ingredients (buttermilk, Eggbeaters, applesauce) and stir into dry mixture along with Fiber One just until lightly mixed. Do not overstir!

Divide batter into 12 muffins in tin sprayed with PAM and bake at 375 until browned - about 20 minutes.

Per muffin:

80 calories
1 g fat
20 g carbs (5 g fiber)
3 g protein

Okay, now I have to make some of these. I need to get more protein during the day, and I'm currently burned out on yogurt and cottage cheese.

Kate, we had about 6" of snow over the weekend. The nearest "real" ski area (meaning one with trails, lifts, day lodge, etc.) is opening on Thanksgiving. As for x-country, I'm not sure as the snow was heavy and wet at first, so the base is pretty icy. About the last 2 inches were powdery though. I hated x-country in NH as the snow was so often the wet/heavy variety, and it was back in the days when you had to wax.

Pat, you'll LOVE these protein bars. I swear, if you put some almonds or peanuts in, the bars taste like the inside of a Snickers bar . VERY yummy! And I remember the days of wax. In fact, the last time I cross-country skied (probably in Waterville Valley, NH -- BTW) we all carried wax with us on the trails in case we needed to stop and wax up! The Bee Gees were in the Top 40 around that same time, so obviously it was awhile ago.

I want it to SNOW in Mass.!!!

Hey, Kate! We've had another foot of since last night, and it's still coming down. Got some exercising in with the shovel Nice powdery stuff too, should be great for xc skiing. Come on up....